U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,098 B1 specifies a light-emitting diode with a multi-layer window element on a light outcoupling side. The window element includes a first semiconductor layer of p-conductively doped GaP, a second semiconductor layer of p-conductively doped GaAs, and an amorphous, electrically conductive layer of indium zinc oxide (ITO). The ITO layer and the second semiconductor layer are provided with an opening into which an electrical connector body is introduced so that it rests directly on the first semiconductor layer.
A Schottky diode contact is formed between the connector body and the first semiconductor layer, so that current substantially is not coupled directly from the connector body into the first semiconductor layer, but instead is first injected laterally into the second semiconductor layer and the ITO layer. Reduced light generation is thus obtained in a region disposed perpendicularly below the connector body in the LED chip. The directional indication “perpendicularly below” the connector body relates in this case to a main direction of extension of semiconductor layers of the semiconductor layer sequence.
As an alternative to forming a Schottky diode contact between connector body and the first semiconductor layer, U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,098 B1 specifies forming an insulator layer of silicone oxide between the connector body and the first semiconductor layer. This also largely prevents direct current injection from the electrical connector body into the first semiconductor layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,226 discloses an LED chip that has, on a light outcoupling side, a similar multi-layer window element to that of the LED chip described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,098.